Household Livelihoods in Semi-arid Regions: Options and Constraints

Household Livelihoods in Semi-arid Regions: Options and Constraints
Author: B.M. Campbell
Publisher: CIFOR
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Arid regions
ISBN: 9798764781

The study sites. Methods. The wealth index and its variation. Human, financial, physical and natural capital - the essets available to households. Households productive activities - the generation of cash and subsistence gross income. Exploring household strategies. Net income and poverty. Temporal changes in livelihood strategies. Modelling livelihood change. Making a difference.

Farming Systems and Poverty

Farming Systems and Poverty
Author: John A. Dixon
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2001
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789251046272

A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

Measuring Livelihoods and Environmental Dependence

Measuring Livelihoods and Environmental Dependence
Author: Arild Angelsen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136537325

Thousands of surveys on rural livelihoods in developing countries are being done every year. Unfortunately, many suffer from weaknesses in methods and problems in implementation. Quantifying households' dependence on multiple environmental resources (forests, bush, grasslands and rivers) is particularly difficult and often simply ignored in the surveys. The results therefore do not reflect rural realities. In particular, 'the hidden harvest' from natural resources is generally too important to livelihoods for development research, policies and practice to ignore. Fieldwork using state-of-the-art methods, and in particular well-designed household questionnaires, thus becomes an imperative to adequately capture key dimensions of rural welfare. This book describes how to do a better job when designing and implementing household and village surveys for quantitative assessment of rural livelihoods in developing countries. It covers the entire research process from planning to sharing research results. It draws on the experiences from a large global-comparative project, the Poverty Environment Network (PEN), to develop more robust and validated methods, enriched by numerous practical examples from the field. The book will provide an invaluable guide to methods and a practical handbook for students and professionals.

The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems

The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems
Author: Reinette Biggs
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 700
Release: 2021-07-29
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1000401537

The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems provides a synthetic guide to the range of methods that can be employed in social-ecological systems (SES) research. The book is primarily targeted at graduate students, lecturers and researchers working on SES, and has been written in a style that is accessible to readers entering the field from a variety of different disciplinary backgrounds. Each chapter discusses the types of SES questions to which the particular methods are suited and the potential resources and skills required for their implementation, and provides practical examples of the application of the methods. In addition, the book contains a conceptual and practical introduction to SES research, a discussion of key gaps and frontiers in SES research methods, and a glossary of key terms in SES research. Contributions from 97 different authors, situated at SES research hubs in 16 countries around the world, including South Africa, Sweden, Germany and Australia, bring a wealth of expertise and experience to this book. The first book to provide a guide and introduction specifically focused on methods for studying SES, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainability science, environmental management, global environmental change studies and environmental governance. The book will also be of interest to upper-level undergraduates and professionals working at the science–policy interface in the environmental arena.

Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Less-favoured Areas

Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Less-favoured Areas
Author: Ruerd Ruben
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1845932773

Less-favored areas with limited agricultural potential or difficult access conditions, support 40 percent of the world's rural population suffering from chronic poverty. While agricultural innovations and rural development programs have begun to be implemented within developing countries, they do not address the specific obstacles faced by this large population. Instead, a targeted approach is needed to identify different resource management strategies for particular types of households and communities as well as creating balanced investments aimed at sustainable intensification of rural livelihoods. Such efforts have been the focus of the research program on Regional Food Security Policies for Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Economies (RESPONSE). Through the study of less-favored areas in Africa, Latin America, and South and East Asia, development pathways allowing for the careful adjustment of resource use strategies at the field, farm-household and village level are explored.

Reforming Land and Resource Use in South Africa

Reforming Land and Resource Use in South Africa
Author: Paul Hebinck
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2010-11-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136886079

This book explores the debates surrounding land and agrarian reform in South Africa and explores how these reforms, and particular those that make access easier, have created new options for and broadened the use of land and natural resources.

Sustainable Forestry: Emerging Challenges

Sustainable Forestry: Emerging Challenges
Author: A.K. Kandya
Publisher: I K International Pvt Ltd
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2007-05-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9384588997

Forests are critical for sustainable development, environment and also for livelihood. They provide a wealth of goods and services that are essential for people's lives, cash income and green economy. Maintaining and enhancing our planet's forest resources is essential if we are to succeed in the global efforts to alleviate poverty, address water scarcity and biodiversity loss, and mitigate climate change. Culturally and historically, the intrinsic value of forests, and the spiritual and sacred use of forests have great importance to local communities and our cultural identity. This book on Sustainable Forestry: Emerging Challenges, written by experienced academicians, scientists and other researchers shows the present ongoing initiatives in the country to address sustainable forestry and its management. An estimated 230 million people in India rely on forests for their livelihoods to some degree, including some 60 million indigenous people and other forest-dwelling communities. While more than two billion people - the developing world's population use fodder, biomass fuels, mainly firewood, to cook food and large number of non-timber forest products for their day-to-day needs.

The Dry Forests and Woodlands of Africa

The Dry Forests and Woodlands of Africa
Author: Emmanuel N. Chidumayo
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2010-09-23
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1136531378

The dry forests and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa are major ecosystems, with a broad range of strong economic and cultural incentives for keeping them intact. However, few people are aware of their importance, compared to tropical rainforests, despite them being home to more than half of the continent's population. This unique book brings together scientific knowledge on this topic from East, West, and Southern Africa and describes the relationships between forests, woodlands, people and their livelihoods. Dry forest is defined as vegetation dominated by woody plants, primarily trees, the canopy of which covers more than 10 per cent of the ground surface, occurring in climates with a dry season of three months or more. This broad definition - wider than those used by many authors - incorporates vegetation types commonly termed woodland, shrubland, thicket, savanna, wooded grassland, as well as dry forest in its strict sense. The book provides a comparative analysis of management experiences from the different geographic regions, emphasizing the need to balance the utilization of dry forests and woodland products between current and future human needs. Further, the book explores the techniques and strategies that can be deployed to improve the management of African dry forests and woodlands for the benefit of all, but more importantly, the communities that live off these vegetation formations. Thus, the book lays a foundation for improving the management of dry forests and woodlands for the wide range of products and services they provide.

Governance for Justice and Environmental Sustainability

Governance for Justice and Environmental Sustainability
Author: Merle Sowman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2014-02-24
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1136324135

Understanding the governance of complex social-ecological systems is vital in a world faced with rapid environmental change, conflicts over dwindling natural resources, stark disparities between rich and poor and the crises of sustainability. Improved understanding is also essential to promote governance approaches that are underpinned by justice and equity principles and that aim to reduce inequality and benefit the most marginalised sectors of society. This book is concerned with enhancing the understanding of governance in relation to social justice and environmental sustainability across a range of natural resource sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa. By examining governance across various sectors, it reveals the main drivers that influence the nature of governance, the principles and norms that shape it, as well as the factors that constrain or enable achievement of justice and sustainability outcomes. The book also illuminates the complex relationships that exist between various governance actors at different scales, and the reality and challenge of plural legal systems in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The book comprises 16 chapters, 12 of them case studies recounting experiences in the forest, wildlife, fisheries, conservation, mining and water sectors of diverse countries: Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Cameroon.Through insights from these studies, the book seeks to draw lessons from the praxis of natural resource governance in Sub-Saharan Africa and to contribute to debates on how governance can be strengthened and best configured to meet the needs of the poor, in a way that is both socially just and ecologically sustainable.

Gender, AIDS and food security

Gender, AIDS and food security
Author: Mariame Maiga
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2023-09-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9086867154

This book is about the effects of AIDS on women and food security in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. AIDS is more than a health problem. Rural households and women in particular have to cope with the lack of labour in agriculture which threatens their food security. For the matrilineal Agni women land ownership appears to be an unexpected burden, rather than a safeguard from poverty. Culture matters, but not in similar ways everywhere. Matrilineal or patrilineal kinship organisation, gender inequality, and norms about sexual relationships very much influence the differences in Agni and migrant women's vulnerability to AIDS. African women are often seen as victims of AIDS. This study shows that women may also use their creativity and social networks to battle and to be resilient against the effects of the illness in their everyday household activities. Using a combination of quantitative statistical data and qualitative methods, this research questions the effectiveness of mainstream AIDS policy and interventions in Côte d'Ivoire. Victimising the poor does not help. Instead, multi-sector policy intervention can mitigate the social effects of AIDS by improving household food security and by changing cultural practices through local leaders who have historical legitimacy and power.